ISLAMABAD, April 28: The Chief Executive Secretariat has ordered an inquiry into the sale of Pakistan’s chancery and diplomatic staff building in Jakarta reportedly without prior approval of the government.
Foreign Office sources told Dawn that a three-member inquiry committee, led by the cabinet secretary and comprising senior officials from the Foreign Office and the Finance Ministry, has been constituted to probe into the matter.
The chancery and the staff building, together spread over an area of over 9,000 square yards in the most posh locality, Jalan Tenku Umar of Jakarta, next to the then president Soharto’s residence was sold for $3.5 million.
The sources said the committee members visited Jakarta last week and were expected to submit a report shortly.
The committee was constituted on the recommendation of the Foreign Office which reported to the Chief Executive Secretariat that ex-post facto regularisation of the sale deed had been sought by the Pakistan Ambassador to Jakarta, Maj-Gen (retired) Syed Mustafa Anwar Hussain.
Foreign Office sources said the building, if sold at commercial rates, would have fetched at least double the price notwithstanding the historical heritage value which could have quadrupled.
The first mayor of Jakarta lived in the building that was purchased by Nawabzada Sher Ali Khan, the foreign minister during president Ayub Khan’s period. Nawabzada, said the Foreign Office officials, was in the habit of purchasing buildings for Pakistan missions abroad instead of paying for rents.
The sources said the Foreign Office would not have sold the buildings even at the cost of gold because Jakarta was one of the most costly cities around the world where land prices were at the peak and Pakistan could not afford to lose such a prized land.
The best option would have been to renovate the chancery to preserve its historic look and accommodate the officers and embassy staff with most modern facilities or demolish it, if at all the building so required, and reconstruct residence for the staff and officers along with the chancery with careful planning, said these sources.
The Foreign Office was told that Pakistan would lose its goodwill in Indonesia if it did not accord ex-post facto approval. The Foreign Office has so far resisted the move.
The sources said no valuation exercise was conducted to assess the present value or/and examine that what would be the cost of construction or the new space rent.
Under the rules, Pakistani properties abroad could be sold or purchased on the recommendations of a committee and with the approval of the Chief Executive Secretariat based on evaluation of the proposal.
The committee was still in the process of examining the proposal when the ambassador entered into the contractual obligation.
Foreign Office spokesman Aziz Ahmad Khan did not comment despite repeated calls.
Deputy Principal Information Officer Nadim Haider Kiani, however, said there was no such thing as sale of around eight or nine missions had to take place according to rules after due evaluation.
